SunEdison Plans To Spin Off Semiconductor Business

(RTTNews) - SunEdison Inc. (SUNE) said Thursday that it plans to spin off its semiconductor business into a separately traded public company. The company's board of directors unanimously approved an initial public offering of the semiconductor business to create SunEdison Semiconductor, Inc. Shares of SunEdison are gaining 19 percent in the regular trading session.

St. Peters, Missouri-based SunEdison, which changed its name from MEMC Electronics Materials Inc. in May, has two businesses, namely semiconductor materials and solar energy. The company plans to sell a minority stake in the semiconductor business to the public and expects to use proceeds from the spin off to fund initiatives related to the solar business, to repay debt and for general corporate purposes.

Ahmad Chatila, Chief Executive Officer of SunEdison said, "Today's announcement represents the next evolution in our strategic plan to better position both our solar and semiconductor businesses for sustainable, long-term success. This new structure will allow each independent company to pursue its shareholder value generating strategies, focus on key markets and customers, optimize capital structures, and enhance access to growth capital for each company in the years ahead."

The newly formed SunEdison Semiconductor will operate as an independent company with a new board of directors.

SunEdison plans to file a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the third quarter of 2013, with the IPO scheduled by early 2014. A final decision regarding the amount of interest to be sold to the public at the time of the IPO will be determined by the company's board of directors at a date that is yet to be decided.

In late July, SunEdison reported a loss for the second quarter that widened to $102.9 million or $0.45 per share from $77.2 million or $0.33 per share in the prior-year period. Net sales more than halved to $401.3 million from $808.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

In Thursday's regular trading session, SUNE is trading at $8.11, up $1.30 or 19.09 percent on a volume of 5.56 million shares.